Testing and Diagnosis of Male Infertility

For a man to be fertile, the testicles must produce enough healthy sperm, and the sperm must be ejaculated effectively into the woman's vagina and be able to travel to and fertilize the egg. Tests for male infertility attempt to determine whether any of these processes are impaired.

Semen analysis: Semen analysis, also known as a sperm count test, analyzes the health and viability of a man’s sperm. A semen analysis measures three major factors of sperm health:

• the number of sperm (count)
• the shape of the sperm (morphology)
• the movement of the sperm (motility)

Hormone testing: A blood test to determine the level of testosterone and other male hormones is common.

Trans-rectal and scrotal ultrasound: Ultrasound can help your doctor look for evidence of conditions such as retrograde ejaculation and ejaculatory duct obstruction.

Genetic testing: Genetic testing may be done to determine whether there's a genetic defect causing infertility.

Testicular biopsy: This test involves removing samples from the testicle with a needle. The results of the testicular biopsy will tell if sperm production is normal.

Other testing: In some cases, other blood or semen tests may be recommended to try to determine why the sperm may not be able to effectively fertilize the egg.

Anti Sperm antibodies: Anti-sperm antibodies are substances that attach to the surface of the sperm and may interfere with the ability of the sperm to move & penetrate the cervical mucus, or to fertilize an egg.